U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,552 discloses ribbon coaxial cable and U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,704 discloses typical connectors for terminating the conductors of the cable thereby forming ribbon coaxial assemblies for use by electronic systems for interconnecting electric circuits thereof. The use of such a terminating arrangement has proven to be successful so long as the terminated cable has not been subjected to twist and bend stresses.
In many cases, terminated ribbon coax cable assemblies are used to electrically connect electronic equipment together. These cable assemblies are bent and twisted thereby subjecting them to stresses which cause the internal elements of the ribbon coaxial cable to move relative to each other which can result in failure of the terminations. Moreover, after a length of cable has been removed from a roll of the cable and its ends have been terminated in electrical connectors, the cable undergoes stress relaxation whereby the internal elements of the cable move relative to each other which places stresses on the cable and its terminations which can result in failure.
According to the present invention, a ribbon coax cable termination comprises a ribbon coax cable including a plurality of center conductors with each center conductor surrounded by dielectric sheathing, drain conductors extending along each dielectric sheathing, metal foil encircling each dielectric sheathing and drain conductor associated therewith thereby defining coaxial conductor members and a dielectric jacket covering the coaxial conductor members and maintaining them insulated from each other and coplanar. Electrical connectors include insulating housing having electrical contacts therein which contain conductor-receiving sections in which exposed ends of the center conductors and the drain conductors are electrically connected. Elastomeric material extends along the section of the insulating housing containing the conductor-receiving sections and covering the conductor-receiving sections with the exposed ends of the center and drain conductors therein and an adjacent section of the ribbon coax cable. Cover members are secured to the insulating housing along the elastomeric material and to each other, the elastomeric material absorbing stresses to the cable to maintain the center conductors and drain conductors of the cable at the connections with the conductor-receiving sections in position.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the ribbon coax cable is in pairs which are encased in a protective sheath including braided-metal strain member having a dielectric jacket thereover, the ends of the protective sheath being secured in metal housing members that are secured onto the connector housing.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method of terminating an end of a ribbon coax cable comprises the steps of connecting stripped center conductors and drain conductors to conductor-receiving sections of electrical contacts disposed in an insulating housing; applying an elastomeric material to the conductor-receiving sections, stripped center and drain conductors and a section of the ribbon coax cable; and securing cover members to the housing, over the elastomeric material and together.